This invention relates to portable yard signs, particularly residential "For Sale" and similar signs of the kind used to inform the public of the availability of a building or the identity of a seller or broker.
Such signs must be easy to store, transport and assemble by a real estate sales person, frequently a woman, without any special tools or equipment. Preferably, the sign must be capable of being handled in a flat condition so that its components may be simply stacked and carried. Assembly should involve only minimal manipulation of the sign components and be without opportunity for misadjustment, and assembly must be simple enough to complete the job quickly at the site. Installation and removal of the sign must also be easily accomplished, preferably with the sign being installed in a yard with just foot pressure by a person of moderate size and strength, and preferably removal must be performed by just rocking the sign and pulling it from the earth, even under severe weather conditions.
Added to the foregoing criteria are the requirements that the sign must be adequately versatile to permit display on its main panel of identification of a selling broker and possibly special features, for example to indicate an open house or that special financing is available, preferably without disturbing the mounting of the sign. More importantly, the sign must withstand wind and weather. Wind must spill from its panel without blowing over the sign. Snow and rain or other adverse weather should not make the sign appear unsightly.
Whether the sign is on display a short time or a matter of months, when it is no longer required, it must be simply removable by a real estate sales person, who can withdraw it from the site and take it apart and store it without much effort and without damaging the sign assembly.
The sign embodying the present invention meets the above criteria. The sign post may be just a length of rigid tubing, with a longitudinal slot formed on its edge from one end thereof, and a ground stake and foot plate assembly secured to its other end. The sign panel is preferably a sheet of plastic such as polyethylene or other similar polymer material which may be suitably decorated and capable of withstanding severe weather conditions. Where there is little danger of warpage under variable weather conditions, the sign panel may be fabricated from a single sheet of material and heat scored on one edge to form a self-hinge; or if moderate warpage is a danger, the panel may be laminated from a plurality of hinged plastic sheets; or if there is severe variance in weather conditions, the panel may have attached to its edge a reinforced hinge member. In either case, one edge of the sign panel is hinged and foldable in the direction of the main body of the sign panel to provide an edge area of greater thickness than the remainder of the panel, and this edge portion is threaded into the channel or tubular area of the post, with the adjacent area of the panel projecting through the slot and exposed to view.
The plastic sign panel is adequately rigid to extend or hang flag-like from the post, but of sufficient resiliency to allow for windspill when pressures against the sign build up and of adequate memory to return to extended position. The binding of the folded edge is sufficient to hold the sign panel on the post. The folded edge area may be manipulated tightly against the main sign panel body to permit easy insertion into and withdrawal from the tubular area of the post, but once in position the folded edge area is permitted to flex free against the walls of the tubular post binding the sign panel in the post against unintended withdrawal.
Special feature panels may be hung from the main sign panel or fabricated like the main sign panel, with an appropriate lengthening of the sign edge receiving slot on the post. Once the sign panel is assembled on the post, the sign may be mounted by stepping on the foot plate at the bottom end of the post, which forces the ground stake into the soil bed.
Sign panels may be laid flat on one another for easy storage and transport, and are interchangeable on the posts. The entire sign may be assembled without any tools or special equipment, and no special equipment is necessary for installation or removal of such a sign. The sign may be erected and removed without requiring a person of special training or strength.
Such a sign is essentially impervious to weather. The panel will not rot, scratch, rust or become dirty (but is in fact washed after each rain or snow fall). The post may also be fabricated from plastic, or of metal and coated with weather resistant materials. Preferably, the post is closed by a removable cap to finish its free end. The sign is lightweight, portable, and capable of easy assembly and firm anchoring.